UK Foreign Secretary Cooper lands in Beijing today (Jun 1–3) for the China–UK Strategic Dialogue.
First in years.
Officials will call it "reengagement."
Markets will hope for thaw.
Reality: both sides need leverage elsewhere, so they're keeping the channel open.
Beijing's Landao Dept Store—33 years, generations of weekend crowds—closes today for "renovation."
Reopening 2027 as a global IP launch center.
Translation: the mall you grew up in wasn't profitable enough to stay a mall.
Another era, filed under "demolished softly."
Why Tesla's Gigafactory Shanghai is unusuallypopular among factory workers in China:
• Housing fund also top-tier contribution
• ~16-month pay structure (base + bonuses)
• Private medical cover for employee + spouse + children
• Overtime & shift allowances compliant
A close friend just got cut from a SOE—one of China's big central-state enterprises.
Stable job. "Iron rice bowl."
Gone.
When layoffs reach the *untouchable* tier,
it's not a bad quarter.
It's the baseline shifting.
No panic. Just note it.😂
Several Chinese universities are disbanding their foreign language departments.
Reason given: curriculum reform.
Unstated reason: AI translates faster than most graduates can conjugate.
Enrollment already collapsed.
Now the departments follow.
A Chinese student used AI to scan academic papers.
Found systematic data fabrication.
Posted the evidence.
So far:
4 deans removed.
2 top universities involved.
The watchdog wasn't a committee.
It was one person with code.
Xiaomi phones sell millions abroad.
Its EV is facing a trust crisis at home—crash rumors, locked doors, refund fights.
Same brand.
Loved overseas as "value king."
Questioned domestically as "over-marketed & under-tested."
The product didn't change.
The expectations did.
China's Tianya—the BBS that birthed "Ghost Blows Out the Light" & early Chinese internet culture—is back online tomorrow (June 1), 3 years after it literally died from unpaid server bills.
130M users once posted there.
In China, even nostalgia needs a reboot button.
China bans crypto trading & mining (2021).
Yet it's the 2nd-largest sovereign Bitcoin holder — ~194,000 BTC.
Why?
State says no to crypto.
State quietly keeps what it takes.
Just the math.
China’s Gaokao is next week.
For many families, it’s still the only way out.
But:
• 12.7M graduates this year (record high)
• Youth unemployment still >16%
• Many end up as couriers, guards, or gig drivers
The ladder isn’t broken.
It’s just shorter.